One big hit in the first inning, and the result might have been different for the Lakeside Senior American Legion team Monday afternoon.
Instead, a familiar foe wiggled his way off the hook and led the Kennewick Bandits to a 5-3 victory in a loser-out state tournament contest at Tacoma’s Heidelberg Park.
“We had our chances early when we got those first three (hits). I thought we were going to get a little revenge, but it didn’t happen,” head coach Rob Reese said.
The potential revenge Reese referred to was against Tony Bryant, a 6-foot-7, hard-throwing right-hander from Kennewick High who beat Reese’s Issaquah High squad 4-1 in the opening round of this year’s class 3A state tournament.
Knowing how hard Bryant throws, Lakeside came out aggressive against the flamethrower and jumped on his fastball in the first inning. Lead-off hitter Trace Tam Sing ripped an 0-2 pitch to right field. Ryan Sommers followed with an RBI single up the middle for a 1-0 lead, and Spencer Rogers tagged another single to right field.
Lakeside’s rally fizzled out quickly, however, with an ensuing strikeout and a groundout into a double play.
After a flawless first inning, things fell apart for Lakeside starter Alex de Marne in the second inning. He walked the first three batters before being relieved by Jared Lemke. Kennewick’s Andrew Mendenhall greeted Lemke by bouncing a two-run double past third base for a 2-1 lead. Lemke walked the next batter, but retired the next three to stop the bleeding.
Lakeside fought back in the bottom of the fourth inning, to grab a 3-2 advantage. Kyle Sutherland earned an RBI groundout, scoring Rogers, who reached third on an error. Mario Sanelli drove in Will Pierce with an RBI single.
Kennewick retook the lead for good in the next inning, however, capitalizing on more Lakeside walks. Lemke walked the bases loaded, and two runs came into score via an error and a sacrifice fly.
“We had nine walks in the first five innings. We gave them too many opportunities,” Reese said.
While Kennewick received free pass after free pass, Lakeside didn’t earn one walk. Bryant caught fire after the first inning and had batters chasing high strikes. He had 10 strikeouts in six innings of work.
“We got into some counts and then we swung at a few bad pitches,” Reese said. “But you’ve got to tip your hat, he pitched a great game.”
Brandon Andreini came in and pitched a solid 4 2/3 innings to close out the contest for Lakeside, allowing one run on five hits and no walks.
Lakeside beat the Vancouver Athletics, 11-2, in Saturday’s tournament opener. The team fell 7-6 to the Twin City Titans on Sunday, moving them into the losers’ bracket. Twin Cities rallied for three runs in the eighth to overcome a 6-4 deficit.
“We were right there. It was in our hands, it’s just tough to come back sometimes,” Reese said.
Monday’s loss wrapped up a string of 45 games in two months, leaving Lakeside with a 27-18 overall record.
“It’s a lot of baseball — it’s good for them. It will pay off for them in years to come,” Reese said. “It was a good year. It’s always disappointing when you don’t win it all, but only one team does.”
As of press time the American Legion Senior tournament was down to three teams. The Kennewick Bandits played the Yakima Valley Pepsi Pak in a loser out game Wednesday night. The winner of that contest played later that night against the Twin City Titans for the state championship.
Lakeside-Issaquah eliminated in two
The Lakeside-Issaquah Junior American Legion team went two and out in the Junior Legion state tournament over the weekend. Issaquah was defeated by Burlington, 7-5 and Spokane, 5-2. No statistics were reported.
